Nanoscale Mirrorless Superradiant Lasing

Abstract

We predict collective 'free-space' lasing in a dense nanoscopic emitter arrangement where dipole-dipole coupled atomic emitters synchronize their emission and exhibit lasing behavior without the need for an optical resonator. At the example of a subwavelength-spaced linear emitter chain with varying fractions of pumped and unpumped emitters, we present a comprehensive study of this mirrorless lasing phenomenon. The total radiated power transitions from subradiant suppression under weak pumping to superradiant enhancement at stronger pumping, while exhibiting directional emission confined to a narrow spatial angle. At the same time multiple independent spectral emission lines below the lasing threshold merge towards a single narrow spectral line at high pump power. The most substantial enhancement and line narrowing occur when a fraction of unpumped atoms is present. We show that this leads to superradiant lasing near the bare atomic frequency, making the system a promising candidate for a minimalist active optical frequency reference.

11 pages, 11 figures

References in corpus (24)

• Exponential improvement in photon storage fidelities using subradiance and "selective radiance" in atomic arrays
• Prospects for a mHz-linewidth laser
• Extended Bose-Hubbard Models with Ultracold Magnetic Atoms
• A subradiant optical mirror formed by a single structured atomic layer
• Coherent Excitation Transfer in a Spin Chain of Three Rydberg Atoms
• QuantumOptics.jl: A Julia framework for simulating open quantum systems
• Microscopic control and detection of ultracold strontium in optical-tweezer arrays
• Many-body Signatures of Collective Decay in Atomic Chains
• Frequency measurements of superradiance from the strontium clock transition
• Storage and release of subradiant excitations in a dense atomic cloud
• A cold-atom random laser
• A non-equilibrium superradiant phase transition in free space
• Local optical control of the resonant dipole-dipole interaction between Rydberg atoms
• QuantumCumulants.jl: A Julia framework for generalized mean-field equations in open quantum systems
• Collective shift in resonant light scattering by a one-dimensional atomic chain
• Supercharged two-dimensional tweezer array with more than 1000 atomic qubits
• Single atom trapping in a metasurface lens optical tweezer
• A Nanoscale Coherent Light Source
• Continuous-wave mirrorless lasing at 2.21 μm in sodium vapors
• Directional superradiance in a driven ultracold atomic gas in free-space
• Superradiant lasing in inhomogeneously broadened ensembles with spatially varying coupling
• Tweezer-assisted subwavelength positioning of atomic arrays in an optical cavity
• Ultimate stability of active optical frequency standards
• Evidence for degenerate mirrorless lasing in alkali metal vapor: forward beam magneto-optical experiment